Meet Jay

Meet the newly appointed Assistant General Manager Jay Feaster

On July 8th, 2010, Calgary Flames Executive Vice President & General Manager Darryl Sutter announced that Jay Feaster has been appointed Assistant General Manager. Feaster joins the Calgary Flames with an impressive managerial career including Stanley Cup Championship as General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 and a Calder Cup Championship as the President of the Hershey Bears (American Hockey League) in 1997.

“There are very few situations that I would want to go back as an Assistant General Manager, having managed my own team,” said Feaster. “But clearly this is one of them. I respect Darryl and I respect the organization.”

Feaster was available to meet with Calgary Flames staff and local media this afternoon at the Saddledome. When asked why the Calgary Flames position looked so attractive to him, he mentioned that it was a combination of things that made the job in Calgary appealing but most of all the people.

“It’s a first class organization,” said Feaster. “This isn’t a franchise that is looking to be better so that it can be sold or flipped. From the very first conversation with Darryl, it was clear that it is a franchise that is committed to winning a Stanley Cup. It’s a franchise that wants to be a championship team, and compete for a championship every year.”

Feaster feels that his job as Assistant General Manager will most likely be a bit different than most of the AGM positions around the league. He says that Darryl is looking for a partner in hockey operations which will result in a slightly non-typical AGM.

One main job responsibility will be being involved with the day to day dealings with the players and coaching staff. Darryl Sutter has talked to Feaster about going on the road with the team and assisting the coaching staff.

“I was a manager who believed strongly about being with the team,” said Feaster. “There are so many pressures on a head coach. It’s important that a coach doesn’t have to deal with it all himself and that he has someone to talk to. It is also important for the players to see that coaching staff and management are on the same page. I welcome that opportunity to play that role for Darryl.”

Prior to being named General Manager with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Feaster spent three seasons with the club in the Assistant General Manager’s position. In that capacity, Feaster was responsible for all contractual, collective bargaining and NHL legal issues, as well as the organization’s scouting department and its developmental league affiliates.

Feaster now joins Senior Vice President & Assistant General Manager Michael Holditch as central figures with the Flames hockey management group. Feaster has only been in Calgary a few days and already has his plate full of things to do and says that his first plan of business is to get to know the scouts and our players.

“What I’d like to do first is get into the scouting system,” Feaster said. “I think it’s important to know where the thinking is organizationally. That’s what I’ve been doing predominantly over the last couple days is getting inside the scouting reports and try to get a feel for not only how the organization thinks about players but also the individual scouts.”

That is our life-blood. The bottom line is it’s the information that matters the most.”